Media Watch

PROGRAM DIRECTOR MEYER LEAVES KCUB AM 1290

Chuck Meyer, hired to put the pieces in place once KCUB AM 1290 landed the UA sports contract, has left the station.

"There's not much to tell," said Meyer via e-mail. "I was offered a contract renewal. I turned it down. I definitely wasn't fired or forced out. This was strictly my call. Citadel has been good to me, but I wasn't sure how much longer I could continue to be good to them. I would prefer to goof off for a while, then seek another sandbox. I tend to become bored rather easily. This time, it took 6 1/2 years."

Meyer was hired from Austin, where he handled similar program-director duties for the University of Texas radio package. Initially, the goal was to model KCUB after KNST AM 790, the news/talk station that hosted the Wildcats package for close to 20 years before being outbid by 1290. As part of that format, Meyer hosted a morning news-talk show with Mike Rapp and Betsy Bruce. The station also syndicated Glenn Beck's radio show, along with other politically driven talk programming.

But the hybrid of news and sports never took hold like it did at KNST. Eventually, the station transitioned to all-sports, with a lineup including Dan Patrick, Jim Rome and In the House with GlennParker, Kevin Woodman and Rob Lantz; the Wildcats sports package acted as the hub.

"Chuck knows the radio business. There are a lot of moving parts on a sports-talk station, and he was a stickler for detail," said Citadel Tucson general manager Ken Kowalcek. "We were lucky to have him and his experience. ... He's done great things for us."

Meyer became more involved in the behind-the-scenes production-related aspects of the UA football pregame show, which I, John Schuster, host with Lantz and Brad Allis. That assistance made the show significantly better, because Meyer understood the importance of a number of key components, from clever pre-produced bits to well-written scripts.

We wanted to make it a point to thank him for those efforts at our upcoming production meeting. Because of the hasty decision to part ways, that meeting never occurred.

Lantz will handle many of the program-director responsibilities in the interim.

"Ideally, we could find someone who could be program director and do news (for KIIM FM 99.5, another Meyer responsibility) and other things in the building—and maybe even do a talk show or sports show," Kowalcek said. "We have a couple of hours to fill after Rome and Patrick. You never know what we might do there. If we find someone who we think is highly qualified who likes doing local shows and who has a good feeling for the 'Cats and the Cardinals (and) high school football, we might make that available as well."

Last week in Chandler, Bob Richardson was arrested for allegedly soliciting male masseuses at his residences, and then using hidden cameras set up in the locations to view the footage again later.

It's no secret media, like a lot of industries, has endured its share of major changes due to transitions in the technological landscape. Many folks who run large media conglomerates are getting paid handsomely to devise strategies that best implement ways to maximize a shrinking bottom line.

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It's no secret media, like a lot of industries, has endured its share of major changes due to transitions in the technological landscape. Many folks who run large media conglomerates are getting paid handsomely to devise strategies that best implement ways to maximize a shrinking bottom line.